Honoring Women in Medicine

03 Sep Honoring Women in Medicine

“You can’t be what you can’t see.”– Marian Wright Edelman

Women in Medicine Month celebrates the significant progress made by women in the field of medicine and supports the continuing journey of women physicians. Although current statistics show that over 40% of medical school matriculants are women, women physicians are vastly underrepresented in healthcare leadership. For women to achieve equity in healthcare, past and future women physician leaders must be visible as experts.

Women Physician Pioneers

1849 Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., is the first woman to receive a U.S. medical degree from Geneva Medical College in New York

1864 Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D., is the first African American woman to receive a medical degree.

1865 Mary Edwards Walker, M.D., is the first women surgeon

1866 Ann Preston, M.D., is the first female dean of a US medical school

1889 Susan La Flesche Picotte, M.D., is the first Native American woman to receive a medical degree in the U.S.

1943 Margaret Craighill, M.D., is the first woman physician to join the U.S. military

1947 Gerty Cori, M.D., is the first woman in the US to earn a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

1965 Helen Brooke Taussig, M.D., is the first woman president of the American Heart Association

1990 Antonia Novello, M.D., is the first woman and first Hispanic to be appointed U.S. Surgeon General

1996 Donna M. Christian-Christensen, M.D., is the first woman physician to win a congressional election

1998 Nancy Dickey, M.D., is the first woman president of the American Medical Association

2015 Susan R. Bailey, M.D., elected as the second woman speaker of the House of Delegates

Spotlight on Dr.
Martha Koo, M.D.

Dr. Martha Koo, M.D., completed her undergraduate studies at
Princeton University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude, and received her
medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where she
earned membership in the AOA and Sigma Xi Society of academic excellence. During
her psychiatry residency at the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Institute, Dr. Koo was
honored with the American Psychoanalytic Association Fellowship Award and she
subsequently completed psychoanalytic training at the New Center for
Psychoanalysis. Dr. Koo is Board Certified in Psychiatry and Board Certified in
Addiction Medicine. She is a pioneer in the development and application of
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), and holds certifications in the
applications of Neurostar rTMS, Brainsway Deep TMS and MagVita rTMS therapy. She
is an active member of the American Psychiatric Association, the New Center for
Psychoanalysis, the Clinical TMS Society, the American Society of Addiction
Medicine, the American Society of Ketamine Physicians, the California
Psychiatric Society and the Southern California Psychiatric Society.

Passionate about using advanced technology to help her patients with treatment-resistant mental disorders, Dr. Koo founded the Neuro Wellness Spa. The Neuro Wellness Spa is a cutting-edge medical facility that provides Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), IV ketamine, photobiomodulation and IV nutrition and that has expanded to four locations since the opening of its flagship site in 2009. Dr. Koo also holds the title of Clinical Supervisor at Clear Recovery Center’s Intensive Outpatient Program and teaches the Altered States Seminar at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies. In addition to her leadership roles, Dr. Koo has enjoyed her office-based psychoanalytically oriented private practice since 1996.

In August of 2016, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) selected Dr. Koo’s publication as the winner of the Use of Blockchain in Health IT Research Challenge. Dr. Koo’s current research is focused on future applications and therapeutic directions of TMS therapy. Her work on rTMS for migraine therapy was published in the “Journal of Neurology & Neurosurgery” and she was featured as a plenary speaker, discussing rTMS in addiction, at the 2019 2nd International Conference on Addiction Therapy and Clinical Reports. Dr. Koo hopes that increased patient and provider education about emerging medical technologies will improve access to and quality of mental health care.

A Note from Dr.
Koo:

What led you to found
the Neuro Wellness Spa?

I was saddened by my clinical experience with so many
patients who did not achieve symptom remission despite exhaustive medication
trials and committed psychotherapy. In 2008, with the FDA-approval of TMS, I
saw an exciting opportunity to offer patients alternative treatments for an
improved quality of life. Since then, I have remained passionate about
providing ideal, efficacious interventions for overall mental, physical and
nutritional health and wellness.

How do you prioritize
mental health in your own life?

I make it a priority to do the things I love- travel with
family, spend time in nature, play the violin, dance and do yoga. It can be
challenging, but I try to balance self-care and caring for others, appreciate
the beauty in life despite life’s inherent stressors, and take time each day to
truly assess and adapt to my current mental and physical needs.

What issues are
important to be aware of during Women in Medicine Month?

I think it’s important to honor and appreciate all the
amazing women who have advanced professional opportunities for women in medical
and scientific careers and who have also demonstrated that women can enjoy, if
desired, both a professional career and motherhood or family. We need to remain
cognizant of all inequities extant in society, whether by gender or age or
race, and hopefully continue to be proactive in establishing equal
opportunities for all.

What advice do you
have for aspiring women in medicine?

Go for it! Words can’t express the satisfaction,
intellectual stimulation and gratification I experience daily as a physician.
Currently, there is a lot of negativity about the state of medicine in the U.S.
and the high costs of medical education, but I would advise any woman
considering a healthcare career to stay focused on her interests and trust that
she will land successfully. A career in medicine offers a myriad of
opportunities- clinical, research, teaching, writing, consulting-and provides a
path for life-long learning and personal growth.